Self-igniter.



PATENTED JULY 28, 1908.

R.E.BERTHOLD.

SELF IGNII'ER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1908.

II In 5 H mm nto-z 213g QW Mmaoeo T 0 all whom it mag concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. A

RICHARD E. BERTHOLD, OF NEW YORK, N. .Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO AUTO IGNITER COMPANY, OF- NEW. YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SE LF-IGNITER Be it known that I, RICHARD E. BERTHoLn a citizen of the United States of America, and

a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self Igniters, of

' which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in self-igniters comprising a rece tacle adapted to be carried in the pocket an to contain an inflammable vapor producing substance, a closure'for the receptacle, a material capable of catalytic action when brought in contact with such vapor and sufficient quantities of air and a dipping frame su porting said; material and by means of whic it may beintroduced into and removed from the receptacle.

The object of this invention is to provide an adequate guard or protector for the catalytic igniting element orelements'carried by this dipping frame, which will not materially retard the rapidity of i nition. The igniting elements consist of I nc wires, preferably platinum, which act as secondary 'lgniters or eat conductors, and a primary igniter, securedto these Wires, in the nature of a button or buttons of a material capable of an-igniting action upon the inflammable vapors that is termed eatal tic. These buttons may be, and preferab y are, of platinum black, platinum sponge, or other spon or porous form other esired material that is-capable of the desired catalytic action. These wires, or a carry the button or buttons alluded to within this frame. The igniting elements mounted upon the frame in this manner are obviously very much exposed; and, the wires necessarily being dc cate',.b reakage frequently occurs in the absence of a pro er guard. Moreover, the buttons are llab e to deterioration through contact with the fingers of the user of the device. In devising an operative form of guard I have experienced considerable difliculty in roducing one that would sufli-v ciently supp ement the supporting frame in protecting the'igniting elements, and, at. the

same time, not be of such bulk as unduly to restrict the air space within the receptacle, (the efficiency of the device depending very largely upon the size of this air space), or of I such character as toabsorb much of the heat Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed larch 12, 1908. Serial No. 420,692.

Patented July 28, 1908.

generated within the igniting elements, thereby greatly retarding or preventing the ignition.' The result of my investi ations has demonstrated that the essentia s of a proper guard are comparatively narrow guard arms dis osed at front and rear of the open s ace inc osed by the dipping frame, in

genera parallelism with and site the wires; and broadl invention consists insuch tachment to the dippin frame. n.

From another point 0 view, the invention may be said to consist in a cage containing the wires-and buttons and comprisin two frames occupying planes substantia y at right an les to each other; one being the suplrectly 0 pcthis phase 0 the a guard for 'atporting ame and the other the guard frame.

Another object of the invention is to pro-' vide improved means for securing the dipping frame for the igniting elements to a closure such as illustrated in my Patent Number 865,755, dated Sept. 10, 1907. This part of the invention consists in a spiral provided at the top of the stem from which depends the dipping frame; this spiral' or helix being adapted to fit snugly and .removably within the slip closure. -The several phases of the invention will be more readily comprehended as the specification proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which or compound of platinum, ut may be of any 7 Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through an igniter embod ing the invention, Fig. 2 is an elevation of t e dipping frame and guard taken atright angles to Fig. 1, the portion'ofv the closure to which the dipping frame is atard may 865,755 of Sept. 10, 1907 but are not limited in their applicability to this particular style. As in that patent there are shown two chambers or tubes 1 and 2, united side by side. For closing these chambers are slip closures 3 and 4, also united side by side, so as to be removable simultaneously. Chamber 1 is adapted to contain the combustible vapor producing substance, being fitted for this pur ose' by reason of a tubular Wick 5 that fits t 1e interior of.the chamber,

and a solidcylindrical wick 6 that fills the 5 lower art of wick 5. These wicks are of any suitable porous material, such as asbestos or cotton, capable of absorbing and retaining a volatile inflammable liquid, as methyl alcohol.

Chamber 2 is intended normally to retain the igniting elements, forming art of the igniting member 7, which depen s from the closure 4. This member 7 comprises the dipping frame 8, the shank or stem 9, and the spiral or helix 10. The whole member isadvantageously bent out of a sin le length of stout wire; the upper portion of the-wire being coiled to form the helix 10, the intermediate portion of the wire being left sub- 20 stantially straight and constituting the stem 9, and the lower portion being bent to form the frame 8. 4

As will be seen, the helix 10 is of such size as to fit snugly but removably within the closure 4; thus permitting the member 7 to be replaced and at the same time insuring that it will be firmly secured to the closure 4. y

The frame 8 is preferably vertically elongated, and comprises top and bottom members 11 and 12 and side members 13 and 14. The fine platinum wires 15 are stretched between the members 11 and 12, and carry one or more balls or buttons 18 of platinum black or the like.

narrow in comparison with the width of the space inclosed by the frame 8, andare disposed lon itudinally and substantially centrally of this space in front and rear thereof. The arms 17 are, thus, in general parallelism with the wires 15 and directly opposite the same and the buttons 18. 'Thesearms are preferably secured at their lower ends to the bottom member 12 of the frame, and at their u per ends to the shank or stem 9; but other modes of' attachment may be resorted to. In the construction illustrated, the arms 17 are integral at their lower ends with a short transverse bar 19, which is 1 provided at each end with a pair of lugs 20. These two pairs of lugs are bent partly around the member 12 of the frame at opposite sides of the wires 15. The upper on of one arm 17 lies againstthe stem 9; while the up er end ofthe other arm 17 is rovidd wit a pair of lugs 21, which are ent around the stem 9 and theupper end of the first arm 17 As indicated in Fig. 5, the guard is most sim ly 'and cheaply made from an integral flat blank of flexible metal.

As clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the arms 17 are spaced at some dstance from the wires 15 and buttons 18- by being bent outward at top and bottom, as at 23 and 24.

The guard- '16 comprises a. pair of arms 17, which are mab It will be seen that the whole guard is comparatively small, and that the arms 17, while narrow, constitute efficient protectors for the exposed sides of the wires 15 and buttons 18. Constructed in this way, the arms 17 do not materially restrict the air s ace within the combustion chamber 1, w ien the igniter member 7 is di ped therein; nor do they absorb sufficient lieat materially to retard the i nition. It will further be recognized that t e guard 16 constitutes, in effect, a frame disposed at right angles to the dipping frame 8, and that the two together constitute a cage for containing and supporting the igniting elements.

In conclusion, while I have particularly described the preferred embodiment of the present improvements, I wish it to be understood that the particular form of igniter to which these im rovements are applied is im material and that the improvements themselves may take different structural embodiments without exceeding the limits of the invention, as defined at the outset of the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as new is:

1.v In a self-igniter, the combination with a rece tacle adapted to contain an inflammab fe vapor producing substance, a closure for said receptacle, and an igniting member adapted to be dipped within said receptacle toproduce a flame, said member comprising a frame, fine wires stretched between t 1e members' of said frame, and a button carried by the wires of a material capable of catalytic igniting action on inflammable vapor, of a guard connected with said frame and comprising narrow arms dis osed at front and rear 0 the open s ace inc osed by the frame, in general paralle ism with and directly opposite said wires. I

2. Ina self-igniter, the combination with a receptacle adapted to contain an inflame vapor producing substance, a closure for said receptacle, and an igniting member adapted to be dipped within said receptacle to produce a flame, said member comprising an elongated frame and catalytic ignitmg elements carried by said frame, of a guard connected with said frame and comprisin narrow arms disposed longitudinal y an substantially centrally in .front and rear ofthe open s ace inclosed by the frame.

3. n a self-igniter, the combination with a rece tacle adapted to contain an inflammab e' vapor producing substance, a closure for said receptacle, and an igniting member adapted to be dipped within said receptacle to produce a flame, said member comprisin a s ank, a frame carried at the end of sai shank and comprising side members and a bottom member, fine wires stretched longitudinally of said frame, and a button carried by said wires of a material capable of catalytic action on inflammable vapor, of a guard comprising narrow arms disposed longitudinally at opposite sides of said wires and button, and fastening means connecting said arms at one end to the shank and at the other end to the bottom frame member.

4. In a s'elf-igniter, the combination with a receptacle adapted to contain an inflammab e vapor' producing substance, a closure for the rece tacle, and an ignitingmember adapted to e dipped within said receptacle to produce a flame, said member comprising an elongated frame having side members and a bottom member, and catalytic igniting elements carried by said frame, of a guard for said elements comprising arms disposed longitudinally at front and rear of the space inclosed by said frame, a cross bar integral with the lower ends of said arms and having lugs clasping the bottom member of said frame,

and means for securing the upper ends of the arms.

5. In a self-igiiiten-the combination of a gether with a cap or sli c'osure within which said helix fits frictiona y.

i Signed at New York, N. this 11 day of March 1908'.

RICHARD BERTHOLD}.

' Witnesses:

J. F. BRANDENBURG, W. P. PREBLE, Jr. 

